Ameliorate
by AvariceN'Spice
Summary: A hero's job is to protect the people, but how can Shouto do that if he can't even protect himself? A doctor's job is to save a life, but how can Vee do that if she can't even save her own? When the two meet they clash, but maybe if they can look past their own hurts, they can learn how to save each other. A story of two kids learning that strength and perfection aren't the same.
1. Chapter 1

**Sooo. I haven't written in a long while, and I'm notorious for never finishing anything… But I finished my last piece, so I hope to find joy in this as I did in that. No promises, but I'll post this in hopes that I can convince myself to take the story somewhere.**

o.0.o

Quirks.

Special, superhuman abilities that some individuals possessed, generally unique to their user and classified in many ways. No one knew how or why they existed, only that they did and they could be both beneficial or harmful to society depending on how they were used.

In her field specifically, quirks where something that were valued immensely. Quirks could tip the scale between saving a life or losing one. As an aspiring doctor, Vee knew just how important that sensitive scale was.

In a hospital, a nurse with X-ray vision would be able to find veins seamlessly, a doctor with enhanced eyesight could make the most precise of incisions, the psychiatrist who could sense moods would be invaluable, and the list would go on, only getting more and more specific. She knew, without a doubt, that the better the ability the better the medical professional.

She knew, not because she had seen the proof (though she supposed she had, at some point or another), but because that was what had been drilled into her head since she began her medicinal studies.

As her legs dangled over the edge of the ledge she sat on, and the wind blew gently across her face, Vee sighed and recalled the words she heard a thousand time, in a thousand different ways.

" _What's your quirk?"_

A simple question, but one that haunted her none the less. Over and over she'd been asked that question, and over and over she'd had the same reply. It wasn't even that she had tired of answering people as they questioned her, it was that she'd grown tired of their reasons _behind_ their questions.

They didn't ask her if she had quirk because that was such a normal thing to do. For her chosen career path, having a quirk wasn't a requirement. In fact, it wasn't even all that common.

There were thousands of doctors that got along just fine without any sort of quirk to aid them, so that wasn't the issue.

' _No,'_ she thought, her dark eyes sliding shut, _'the issue is always going to be me.'_

And as Vee sat on the roof of Musutafu Medical center, contemplating the thoughts she wished would just go away, she wondered how it was that her most beloved dream had left her so…bitter.

o.0.o

He wasn't looking for anything in particular, really. He'd been wandering, even if he knew he shouldn't have been. It had simply been a very long day, and Shouto had needed to get away… from his Father.

That was why when he saw the sign for the stairway leading to the roof, he followed it even though logically he knew he probably wasn't allowed up there. Still, after a long day of finishing the final paperwork and requirements to attend U.A., which unfortunately he needed his Father with him to do, he needed a breather.

Fresh air had always helped him refocus and mediate away the anger, and after the last conversation he had unfortunately had to participate in with his father, he needed to get a lock on his emotions.

' _Pathetic.'_

The world echoed in his mind, and it made him grit his teeth as he attempted to push away his seething rage at his Father's displeasure during Shouto's physical.

Too scrawny, too short; there was always a problem with his son that needed correcting as far as Enji Todoroki was concerned. Though he had grown a thicker skin over the years, there was just something so demeaning about standing in front of his father half naked as his physical fitness was assed. No matter his protests, Enji had insisited on staying during the examiniation.

He'd said it was his 'right as a Father' to be there during his child's doctor's appointments, but Shouto thought that to have the rights of a Father you had to act like one first. He didn't, of course, say that in front of the doctor, but he liked to think Enji had seen it in his eyes as they stared eachother down.

Shouto was by no means out of ship, nor was he developing wrongly for his age, but that wasn't enough for his Father. The older man was much larger and much more muscular not only in that moment, but his physique at Shouto's age had been larger as well. As such, Enji was convinced there was something wrong with his son.

' _There will always be something that needs to be fixed,'_ Shouto thought as he finally reached the top of the stairs, and pushed the roof access door open.

He knew his Father simply wanted a child that could surpass his ultimate rival, but Shouto knew that in the end, no matter what he thought of himself, his Father would always find something in him… lacking. And with that, Shouto also knew he'd be severely punished for the perceived shortcomings.

As he stewed in his thoughts, his fists clenching and both his cold and hot sides fighting to break through, he nearly missed what would have been an awkward interruption to his impromptu mediation.

The rooftop itself was simply a wide open space, but the railings around the edges spoke to how often people truly came up. At one of the railings, not far from the door, sat another person. With their back to him, he could only really make out a large knot of curly, out of control hair, and a small form curled around the bars of the railing as their feet dangled free over the edge.

Immediately stopping his stride, Shouto's immediate response was to call an apology and leave as to not burden the other person with his prescience. Like him, it seemed they'd come to be alone, and he didn't truly want to interrupt that.

Before he could, however, the person turned and he was face to face with what appeared to be a young girl. Her coffee colored skin was pinked, mostly likely due to the chill in the air outside, and as large brown eyes took him in, her neutral expression morphed into one of irritation.

o.0.o

Tense, Vee stared at the young man and pushed away the quick burst of anger his presence brought…. After all, he was the reason she was up there in the first place.

Not directly, of course, but as was the nature of the world, his being in her hospital set of a natural chain of events that unfortunately, had not left her alone.

Musutafu Medical center, despite its distance from her home, had been her final pick of internship for one easy reason: because of its proximity to U.A. High School, it held a sort of partnership with the prestigious institution. Sure, the school had Recovery Girl, but it was always good to have other trusted medical professionals on call. Both because of their long history of competency, and now in part to the fact that they had a strong partnership with the hero school, Mustutafu Medical Center was home to some of the best doctors in Japan, even if it wasn't one of the larger hospitals. The wealth of knowledge available as well as the assurance that she'd be seeing enough action to keep her occupied is what finalized her decision. Well, that and the fact that while busy enough, the town was for sure less hectic and disorienting then a large city like Tokyo would've been.

So, when all was said and done, it was no surprise that as part of their set of entry requirements, Mustutafu Medical Center was U.A.'s destination of choice for first year candidates to get their physicals. Now as far as she knew, not all students had such a requirement; just the ones who where supposedly getting in on 'recommendation'.

A month before the start of the semester, the students were asked to come in to get full, in depth evaluations of their physical health, and to some degree, their quirks. For something as trusted as a recommendation, it had to be verified that their quirks where actually _real_ , she supposed, and not fabricated… Which was something she'd actually come to learn that people had tried to do.

Still, as she took in the split coloring of the guy in front of her, she doubted whatever he was capable of was fake. If the physical manifestation wasn't enough of an indicator, then the serious façade he seemed to project was enough of an answer for her. Whatever he was doing, she didn't think he was the type to play around.

She could respect that, and if anyone asked, that would be her excuse as to why she chose to address him in the blunt way she usually reserved for people who _weren't_ the ones she was supposed to be healing.

"Patients are not allowed at this level. Leave."

She could have said please, buuuut…. He and his future classmates where the reason she'd once again had the fact that she was quirkless shoved in her face, and ended up moping away her lunch break in the first place.

o.0.o

Though the first thing he had noticed about her had been her youth, Shouto found that the second largest thing to stand out to him had nothing to do with her appearance- it was how _rude_ she was. Though he usually wasn't one to let such insignificant things get to him, he found the time he'd spent with his father in the past few hours to be wearing his patience thin.

"If patients aren't allowed up here, then I believe you should be leaving as well," he bit back at her, not bothering to take the coolness from his tone.

Even behind the thickness of her messy bangs, he could see her dark eyes narrow. All at once, the relaxed disposition she'd held before went away, instead replaced by something hard as her back snapped ramrod straight and she scrambled to her feet.

" _I_ can be on the roof for as long as I want," she all but growled at him.

Even standing, her eyes flashing and her wild hair making her seem nearly feral, Shouto wasn't impressed. She looked heavyset and out of shape, and couldn't have been more than five feet tall. Though he wasn't bothered in the least by her display of anger, he did wonder where it had come from.

Dressed in scrubs as she was, he figured she was either visiting a family member or being treated for something.

"Visiting your grandmother or whoever doesn't make you any better than me, and if you're here being treated for something, that just makes you a hypocrite," he told her evenly.

That, it seemed, had been the wrong thing to say because if possible, her wild curls only seemed to frizz larger and she began to speed towards him, left hand shoved firmly in her pocket as she seemed to dig for something. For one split second, as she closed in on him, Shouto seriously thought she would hit him, and he went to make the appropriate steps to avoid her assault when instead of a punch, a shiny plastic badge was shoved right in his face.

She invaded his space without a single thought, but _that_ was not what truly threw him off.

What had his eyebrows rising, and disbelief coloring his face was, in fact, the solid lettering on what appeared to be her clearance badge that announced for all the world to see that she was an intern.

Maybe it was the impending change to his life as he finally had a solid pathway to his goals in his grasp, maybe it was the stress of the day, or maybe it was just the fact that he was a teenage boy, and no matter how hard he tried, not even he always said or did the right thing… But the words that came out of his mouth next probably could've been said better.

"That's a joke." The girl looked about 12, and he highly doubted she was allowed anywhere near medical equiptment.

Wide eyed as she been, her anger running hot in her eyes, Shouto had been expecting an outburst. Something snappy in reply maybe, or possibly just a plain old show of physical aggression. Maybe he'd wanted it even, just something to give him a reason to feel the anger that had been bubbling inside him all morning.

What he hadn't been expecting was her to freeze, eyes going impossibly wider, before slowly stepping back and letting her arms drop to her side. He could see her jaw clench, and it was obvious she'd been hurt by what he said. For as dark as they were, her brown eyes where oddly expressive.

In that moment, Shouto knew he should probably just apologize before the situation got worse. It seemed he waited a moment too long, however, because her face quickly took on a startling blankness and she was moving past him before he could think through a plan of action.

Without looking back, she grabbed the door handle and yanked it open, her parting words slicing through him in a way she had no way of knowing would hit home:

"No, what's a joke is someone like you ever thinking they could become a hero."

o.0.o

Vee missed exactly three things as she fled, her hurt threatening to rise up even as she pushed it down in to that yawning void of emptiness in her chest.

The first was the look on the boy's face as her words filled the air.

The second was that the temperature outside suddenly dropped a good 20 degrees.

The third was that without knowing it, the conviction of her words betrayed a feeling she didn't often share.

She hadn't meant to hurt him, not really , and the girl had no way of knowing the weight her words held.

See, the sad truth of it all was that Viveca Golding didn't just think the angry boy on her roof was a joke for wanting to become a hero, she just didn't believe in all those hyped up 'heroes' in the first place.

After all, what worth was a hero to a girl who knew not a single one of them could save her from herself?


	2. Chapter 2

**Long time no see, I'm surprised I wrote this but happy none the less. I don't know when I'll update again, or where this will go, but as always I love feedback. Thank you to anyone who's here reading 3**

 **o.0.o**

Vee hadn't much thought about Shouto Todoroki after their disaster of a meeting not three weeks before. Sure, after meeting him and subsequently realizing exactly who he was and just how bad she'd probably get in trouble if anyone found out she was a dick to him, she had felt bad. But Vee had plenty of other, more pressing things to feel bad about, and that feeling soon passed.

The days came and went, each one filled with more of the same hustle she'd come to expect from her hospital. Check in patients, take vitals, get snide looks for being herself, file papers, make calls, kiss her bosses' ass, rinse, and repeat.

It was a cycle she wasn't fond of, but she had an end goal to achieve and she was so far in she didn't see the point of bemoaning a situation she put herself in. Still, that didn't mean she didn't bitch to herself every now again when she found herself doing boring things like rigging through the archives to fetch files for her boss.

While it was technically part of her job description as an intern, she much preferred her lab and clinic rotations where she got to help test samples and actually put her medical training to good use.

Sneezing as her rummaging through the file cabinets displaced dust all around her, she dropped the large box she was carrying full of her gathered files and swore.

"I'm going to die in here," she murmured aloud, dust somehow getting into her mouth and making her gag on the taste.

Determined to get out of there as soon as possible, she rushed through the file gathering, seemingly just on time as her pager went off.

Glancing at it, she saw she was needed with her files right at that moment. Determining that one of the patients was probably their to pick up their information, she hurried to her boss's office and set the box down, calling down to the front desk to figure out which file she needed to pull.

"Mustafa Medical Center front desk, this is Yamada speaking how may I help you?" The clear voice rang out through the speaker of the phone, and Vee bit back a sigh.

Miki Yamada was one of the regular front desk attendants, and in her humble opinion, the woman was an absolute bitch. Well, to her at least. Miki made it no secret that she thought Vee far too young and under qualified for her position, but Vee knew that was just because the woman's boyfriend had wanted the same job and gotten beaten out by her. Was she too young? Maybe. Under qualified? Not a chance. Vee had worked her ass off, skipping grades and forgoing all extracurricular to get to where she was, and though it was a pain to balance school and her internship, she was going to do it even if it killed her.

"Hello Yamada-San, I was wondering if you could tell me who was here to pick up files from Dr. Akagi?" She asked politely and quickly as she could.

Immediately Miki's once professional tone changed.

"Todoroki. I'll send him up."

With that, Miki hung up, but Vee couldn't help but clench her jaw. In any other circumstance, Miki would have known that she needed a first and last name, as well as time to pull the file, but it seemed protocol was in the trash when it came to her.

Knowing that the front desk was only about a five minute walk from the office she was in, she began frantically sorting through the files, hoping upon hope that she'd find it and be able to present it before the patient arrived.

As she searched, however, something dawned on her and frantic fingers slowed just as she hit the 'S' portion of her box.

' _Todoroki?'_ She thought, the realization hitting her just as the door behind her clicked, and a familiar voice rang out, sharp and disapproving.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Sighing, she turned around and greeted the bicolored young man she'd managed to completely act an ass to. After their encounter, it hadn't been hard to realize who he was. Nor had it been hard to remember that she shouldn't have been acting like that in her place of work, not when she was already in such a precautious place to begin with

"Todoroki-San, how are you this afternoon?"

She knew her tone was much different then he expected, but no matter how alone they where in the office, she knew there was still the risk of being overheard and she wouldn't get chewed out by anyone for throwing sass at a patient. Nevermind that he was a patient, she didn't want to deal with the absolute verbal ass whooping she'd be given for talking shit to Endevour's _son_.

Still, she couldn't quit keep up the whole 'loving nurse' facade knowing he'd already seen the flip side to it; the act would've just made her feel more miserable and stupider then she already did. Turning back, she found his file and then, with his Manila folder in hand , she made her way around the desk and leaned back against it, still facing him. She kept her stare even with his dual colored one, and noted the look of confusion on his face.

"I'm fine... Golding-San?" He replied uncertainly, obviously trying to match her feigned politeness.

She couldn't help but cringe in response, hating how the honorifics sounded pinned to her foreign name. She'd been in Japan for some time, but on the occasions people had referred to her by name, she couldn't ever get over the feelings of awkwardness.

That feeling coursing through her body, she opened her mouth without thinking.

"Just call me Vee."

Wanting to slap herself for the faux pass, Vee's mouth immediately snapped shut.

She could see his eyes widen in surprise, and the blush that graced his pale cheeks made a curious warmth bloom in her belly. Generally she was pretty good at following Japanese customs and not making a fool of herself with her more 'American Tendencies', as they'd once been called when she'd been caught using a fork in the cafeteria by an older nurse. However, in this moment, with too many thoughts weighing on her tired mind, and a young Todoroki staring at her, she hadn't managed to bite her tongue fast enough.

"That's hardly appropriate-" he started, furthering her embarrassment as she cut him off in her haste to cover her own ass.

"I'm sorry I just hate the way my last name sounds with an honorific. It's too foreign, ya know?"

' _You couldn't just stop talking could you? Always have to say something stupid, always have to fuck thing u-'_

Her mind would have simply kept eating at her until she was distracted by something else, and she knew that from experience. She'd expected the distraction to come in the form of Shouto finally calling her out, so her surprise when genuine when instead her attention was drawn to the door once again.

o.0.o

Shouto was rarely caught off guard; he supposed in a way his life was oddly predictable. He had his goals laid out in front of him, and the people around him, usually his family, often could be depended on to act a certain way.

That was why, as the small, frizzed out mess of a girl in front of him babbled, he wasn't sure what to do. The first time he'd met her she'd been rude, then when he'd come in she'd seemed to be oddly polite, and now the nervous visage she presented now was where they'd landed.

Fingers death gripping a Manila folder, and eyes looking at everything but him, the intern made a pitiful sight, if he did say so himself. He was fully prepared to ask her just what her problem was when his thought was cut short by the unmistakable presence of Japan's number 2 hero behind him.

"And just what's going on here?" Endeavor asked, ever present fires blazing angrily.

' _Overbearing as ever,"_ Shouto thought to himself as the man he could hardly called a father laid a large palm on his shoulder and stared down the girl in front of him.

Not even bothering to hide his disdain, Shouto shrugged off the hand and stepped away from Enji. Crossing his arms, he looked pointedly at the intern, Viveca.

"Golding-San has the files we need," he said, noting how she cringed at her own name. He supposed she hadn't been just saying things when she'd told him she didn't like the way it sounded. He could agree that perhaps it didn't flow so well with Japanese, but it was her given name and he wasn't sure else he should use.

He certainly wasn't going to call her by her first name, especially in front of his father.

"I... Yes, here they are," she stated awkwardly. With a small shuffle, she'd moved over and handed the files over to Enji, pulling back quickly. Probably to avoid the flames that Enji had only toned down just enough to avoid setting off the fire alarms. These days, the large man rarely went anywhere without his trademark look. Shouto couldn't even remember what the man's face even looked like without the obscuring mustache.

Perhaps that was for the best.

Gaze sharpening, Shouto listener as Enji proceeded to say probably the worst thing he could've in such a simple situation.

"Why is a child dealing with such sensitive information?"

As it had when he'd pointed out something along a similar line of thought (loath as he was to admit to _anything_ being similar to his father) that immediately set Viveca off.

Her back straightened, her large eyes narrowed, and her mouth set in a firm line. With a start, he realized she'd shown him a sort of softness earlier that wasn't present now.

"I'm an intern of this hospital, and today my task was to help Dr. Akagi with his filing. I was on shift when you requested those, and so it's me who is giving them to you now. Dr. Akagi is a busy man, but if you wish to speak with him I'm sure the front desk would be able to get you an appointment. Now if you'll excuse me, I have duties to attend to," she said, tone sharp.

Comically small compared to his father, she looked like an ant scrambling past a mountain as she pushed between them to make her exit, but he had to give her accolades for managing the gal to stand firm in the face of a man many found to be far too intamdatijg to anything but tremble before.

And maybe, just maybe, when she turned to him specifically, and gave a shallow bow followed with "Have a lovely evening, thank you," but didn't spare his father a second glance, he may have smiled.

o.0.o

Six hours later, long after the sun had set but still with three hours left on her shift, Vee sat crunching on a stick of pocky. Her last task of the day was to input data into the computer's online database, and as she slowly worked her way through the large stack, she found her eyes drawn to one name.

'Todoroki, Shouto'

The black ink on white paper was harmless, really, but it still made her stomach clench in anxiety and embarrassment. Truly, it seemed Whenever _he_ was involved she would find some way to inevitably make a fool of herself. Even worse, after seeing him with his father earlier in the day, she felt _bad_ about dragging him into the cloud of bullshit that seemed to orbit her. She hadn't met to be rude or weird with him, but the first time she'd met him he'd got the more acidic part of her without really deserving it. The second time she'd all but insulted him by forgetting her manners and asking him to cal her by her first name in a way that was far too familiar to be okay.

Teeth snapping through her snack with a particularly loud _snap,_ Vee shook her head and brought her fingers up beneath her glasses to rub at the tired orbs. Shaking her head, she sat back in her chair and tried to refocus herself...

Only to completely veer off track again when she began reading the file in front of her that she was supposed to input. The particular stack she was working on wasn't anything out of the ordinary, as doctor that produced them specialized in quirk biology. Every file detailed how the individuals quirk affected their natural bodily functions, which was extremely useful for treatment. The thing was, though, that the testing she was imputing was a particularly detailed batch that where usually only conducted under patient request. Because of the wide array of quirks in the general populace, it was expensive and took a lot of time to truly study the biology of each patient in retrospect to their own unique abilities. Therefore while done, it wasn't done often unless there was something life treating going on or the patient was just curious about themselves. Routine medical care worked for most, and general populace was okay with that.

As she read through Shouto Todoroki's file, however, she wondered why exactly the 15 year old would be ordering tests not only on for his physical health, but for the very cellular composition of everything from the red and white strands of his hair to the toenails on the dual parts of his body.

As she read farther and farther down the findings, though, all the whole entering them into the computer by muscle memory alone, it hit her.

There at the bottom of the page, right where the authorizing signature line lay was _not_ the signature of the patient in question.

No, instead, right below the signature line of aggressive looking cursive, lay the name _Enji Todoroki._ His father had ordered the test, and as his legal guardian, Vee knew he probably hadn't even had to tell his son about them. Despite admittedly not knowing either the man or his son very well, something about that rubbed her the wrong way.

Vee knew that Enji, otherwise known as Endeavor, was Japan's number 2 hero. Loved by many, he probably had more than half of Japan ready to sing him praises.

Still, Vee had a practiced eye for disgust. She'd had it aimed at her often enough by others, and recognized it even better from her own daily looks in the mirror.

Watching Endeavor with his son for less than 15 minutes was all she needed to know that neither male liked the other, and even worse was that Endeavor had barley even acknowledged his son. Shouto Todoroki has looked less like the son of one of the biggest heroes in the world, and more like an object to be toted around. He'd probably been poked and prodded without a single word as to why or what for, and a deep part of her recoiled at the violation.

Normally, Vee had a good head on her shoulders. She knew when to do what needed to be done, and she never acted without thorough thought. Still, she was human, and a young one at that.

It was late, nearing the end of a 70+ hour work week, and she still had a simmering guilt in her gut telling her that she needed to do something to make up for her bad behavior.

' _You terrible, stupid girl,'_ the dark voice in her mind whispered, _'always going out of your way to make people hate you.'_

That voice, still whispering, is how she would later explain away just why she did what she did.

Always one to do her job, she continued through her stack, always aware that she was on a time limit and had much more to do. Still, within that block of time, if anyone where to have looked, they would have found an email sent from one Viveca Goulding to one Shouto Todoroki.

It's heading simply read 'Results' and body was nothing more than a single line explaining what lay within, and a file attachment of all the results Enji Todoroki hadn't bothered to give his son.

o.0.o

Upon further inspection, hours later after a particularly intense training session, and even longer still after reading said files and accidentally melting off the edge of his laptop, Shouto would find that Vee had forgotten to take off her personal emailing signature.

Overcome with rage at his father for controlling his life even in this, but confused as to how the information had ended up in his hands in the first place, he would take the number found there and send her a simple message.

'Why?'

o.0.o

 **Please review!**

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